COCHRANE: Ho-hum . . . The NHL is back

I didn’t do a victory dance when greeted Sunday morning by news that a tentative deal had been struck to end the 113-day NHL lockout.

In fact, I had mixed feelings.

First, there were several reasons to welcome the news.

Like millions of hockey fans, I enjoy watching the NHL game. It is simply the best hockey in the world.

From a purely personal take, the return of NHL play means the revival of plenty of issues that make for good story fodder, something every sports writer wants.

And then there are all those employed thanks to the pro sport — players in European pro leagues and service people in the NHL cities — who lost their jobs due to the lockout who can now hopefully get back to work.

Despite these reasons, my hesitation about celebrating the news has to do with the fact that I increasingly have a difficult time accepting the greed in pro sports today. And the greed demonstrated in prolonging this latest round of negotiations, when the profits and paycheques were already so massive, was definitely off the charts.

The return of NHL play is a win for both sides in the millionaire-versus-billionaire battle. It reignites the money-making machine that produces an average annual salary of $2.4-million for NHL players.

Yet I will bet neither side emerges with any better understanding of why fans resented the attitudes demonstrated during the various NHL labour disputes over the years.

There once was a time when NHL players were held up as the best of the pro athletes. A large chunk of the NHL ranks were formed from what Don Cherry often referred to as “good ol’ Canadian boys” who genuinely seemed to care more about feeding their passion for the game than filling their bank accounts.

Of course, that was a naive portrayal of hockey from decades past, a time when players were paid so little by dominating owners that they often needed summer jobs to get by.

No one can argue that the salary structure has tilted, definitely toward the players, in the past couple of decades. Now, it is difficult to cheer for or even appreciate either side’s arguments in labour disputes when the players and owners have become so removed from what fans consider a normal life.

If I had to listen to one more player talk about how hard he and his union brothers worked and sacrificed to get to this point in their careers, I was ready to start cheering for a permanent lockout.

Is there no one in the union sufficiently in tune with everyday working-folk values to tell players that their situation doesn’t compare with the struggle of ordinary folk?

There is no way an NHL player can relate his situation to the financial hardships of an everyday working couple or a single parent who rely on modest incomes from less-than-stellar jobs to raise a family.

I suspect I will continue to carry these mixed feelings about the NHL for a long time.

The bottom line is I am happy the NHL is back for the millions of fans who enjoy the game and, let’s face it, there is really nothing that will keep most of them from tuning in once again. Despite polls that show fans are resolved to stay away this time, I am betting the fans in the top hockey markets, especially Canadian fans, will return.

As for me, I would have been just as happy had the lockout continued. A little more financial fear for owners and players may have made at least some of them realize how good they’ve got it.

Chris Cochrane is a sports columnist with The Chronicle Herald and the author of Inside the Game.